I’m a dad; I’m sure that comes as no shock, given my username. I’m a father of seven (six of which live at home); that does often raise some eyebrows.
I often get the “how do you find time to brew?” type questions, so last night, I wrote a little article on brewing with kids.
I’ve done brewing demonstrations for a Boy Scout (Venture) crew. It was met w/a fair amount of indifference from both the scouts & their parents.
I can imagine that would be a tough sell in a scout situation. At home, with your own kids, is probably different.
obligatory: “I guess I could give this a try, but I generally just use hops.”
Heh. I really considered a throwaway “dry kidding” joke.
I don’t want to know what this would taste like. Kids are covered in all sorts of stuff.
Pre-chill, so they should be sanitary.
Nice write-up.
It is challenging with kids ( I have 4). I became an early morning (like 4AM) brewer when the kids were in sports and such. The last few years I take off a day and brew while they are all in school. Two batches a day and a bunch of time alone not at work.
I also had to fight the urge to make a joke about not hitting my numbers because the crush is too course using kids. 8^)
Paul
Hah, glad you enjoyed it. Adapt, improvise, and overcome!
I hear they throw a lot of diacetyl… and boogers.
Great write up. The 3 kids around my household(my girlfriend’s) were interested in helping me brew and/or bottle for about 2 batches. I guess I just need to show them the WIIFM to get them interested again, as I could use a good hop dropper and a cleaning agent
Yeah, outright slave labor doesn’t always seem to work as a marketing tactic. I’m not sure why…
Nicely done - makes me a bit misty-eyed thinking back to my bottling partner…he’s 23 now and we see him once a month, if we are lucky. He’s a certified beer lover and texts me with new found brews in his work travels.
Don’t blink.
Great article! I also have two boys and when then can, they like to assist in various stages of brewing. Teaching the basics and a healthy understanding of what’s occurring. Thanks!
I thought my days of being up in the wee hours were behind me once my four kids were no longer infants, but now a few years later, and I’m still up late… only the kids are sleeping soundly. I begin brewing at about 8:30 p.m. or so and finish by 2 a.m. or thereabouts. I find focusing on just one thing at a time–brewing–relaxing compared to carrying on a four-way conversation and cajoling and corralling them all day long (all enjoyable–but tiring). When my sons and daughter get older, maybe I can brew during the day and they can help, but for now they collect the different colored bottle caps and ask me what beer I’ve opened at dinner. Home brewing is about brewing, absolutely, but it is also about doing something at home while my family is in the house, and it’s all good.
I love to brew with my daughters, 9 and 12. I’m doing 5 gal. extract batches, so brew day is only about 2 hours. They’ll hang with me the full hour for the boil. Prep and cleanup are all mine. On bottling day, my 12 year old loves to fill bottles while I cap. I explain all the details of brewing and beer to them so they understand the entire process. I want them to understand that it’s a labor of love and not all about the beer. Great father daughter time.